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FootballGAF 2021/2022 |OT| The battle to survive, rebuilding after disaster.

DKehoe

Gold Member
United vs Liverpool. Biggest fixture of the season. Not feeling super confident but with these games anything can happen.
 

T8SC

Member
ronaldo-ronaldo-united.gif


Ronaldo Vs Liverpool, lets do this!!!
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I almost didn't watch the game because I thought it would be boring 0-0. Glad I decided to in the end.

Utd are fucking shit. Seriously, when you look at the talent and experience they have in the squad, they should be challenging for the title, not getting absolutely swept aside and killed off by half time.

Ollie has to go. He's been in the job a while now and Utd haven't improved. If anything they're going backwards.

Liverpool were absolutely outstanding. Clear title contenders with Man City and Chelsea.
 

mekes

Member
If Solskjaer turns it around we only fall back into these stints of poor results anyway. I don't rate the coaching, I don't like our setup. He did steady the ship after Mourinho but I think that's as far as his usefulness extends.

Time to go..
 

Batiman

Banned
Just popping out n to say maguire is trash. Probably the reason for 2-3 goals this game and all 4 of Leicester goals the other day. I used to think he was alright.
 

DKehoe

Gold Member
Liverpool were absolutely outstanding. Clear title contenders with Man City and Chelsea.
What's damning about United is I actually don't think Liverpool even played amazingly well. They weren't at full strength and have played better this season. United were just a mess.

As plenty of others have said, when you see Liverpool, City and Chelsea you get the sense that there's a system drilled into the team.

With United it feels like the plan is:

IMG_6783.JPG


(stolen from one of The Athletic's United writers)

and it's down to relying on individual moments of brilliance to produce something. And with players like Bruno, Pogba, Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and Ronaldo those moments can happen but you can't rely on that.
 

PJX

Member
When Liverpool bought Salah, they were told they were getting a Chelsea reject and a poor man's Rashford. After his first season with Liverpool, he was labeled a one season wonder.
 

Dark Rider

Member
When Liverpool bought Salah, they were told they were getting a Chelsea reject and a poor man's Rashford. After his first season with Liverpool, he was labeled a one season wonder.

He needed a club that fit with his style and Liverpool did provide that for him so he payed back by doing all what he did so far, it is a case of a perfect match.




If they sack him (and they will sooner or later) whoever replace him will be in the very same position in a season or two is my prediction.
 

Dark Rider

Member
[DeportesCuatro] After the final whistle yesterday, Ancelotti was seen passing a supportive message to Ronald Koeman: "We have a complicated job, but we have to continue."



:pie_thinking:
 

Dark Rider

Member
CONMEBOL Council ratifies its rejection of the World Cup every two years


Good.
 

Dark Rider

Member
[PartidazoCope] The commission of Culture and Sports of the European Parliament have proposed hat no foreign investor can buy more than 49% of European clubs shares.



IF this proposal go anywhere then the investor can just bribe a local to buy 2% and get full control anyway. They need more than simple fixes to combat this problem.
 
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Dark Rider

Member
Ancelotti on Vini Jr - "I didn't do anything. Just put him in and put my trust in him which he obviously deserves because he's playing really well and scoring goals. As I have said many times, I’m not a magician, I try to do my best and place the utmost confidence in all the players."


He is in great form since the start of the season, I really hope he continue and become a big star.
 

Dark Rider

Member
Ibrahimovic on Kylian Mbappé: "I love him but he doesn't do enough. He can become so good if he learns to hurt himself. He needs to get a taste for blood, walk on fire. Surround yourself with those who say you aren't good enough & you will be better." (TF1)

 

Dark Rider

Member
Solskjaer: “Criticism can make you doubt yourself or make you stand up for yourself. And I’ve always enjoyed criticism. So just keep that coming, that’s fine. Journalists, pundits, that’s their job, and it’s their job to give opinions. I’m not here to fight with anyone.”

 

Dark Rider

Member
[Fabrizio] Vinicius on his contract situation with Real Madrid: “I'm very calm, I want to stay and I don't care how long my next contract will be or how much they will pay me. All that matters to me is the satisfaction of being in the best club in the world”, he told @TNTSportsBR ⚪🇧🇷 #Real



Keep your form and you will do great things here.
 

Dark Rider

Member
[Bolarinwa Olajide] Frank Ribery: "Personally, I think that myself and Robben at some point were better than Cristiano and Messi. However, they played El Clasico, so that worked on their advantage as the audience watched them more."



:pie_thinking:
 

DKehoe

Gold Member
Are you OleIn or OleOut? which players you would keep and which you would get rid of?
I think sacking him right now (or immediately after the Liverpool game) without any kind of long-term strategy in mind is short-sighted. Sacking the manager is only half of the process, you also need to line up a proper replacement. And there's not really an obvious one available right now. I'm kind of glad Conte has gone to Spurs because while I think he's an excellent coach and Spurs will probably be better now they have him, he only seems to be able to operate in the short term before causing all kinds of issues.

My personal fondness for Solskjaer's time as a player makes it pretty hard for me to be a frothing at the mouth #OleOut type like some. I'd love to see him make it work. And he has done a good job building the squad back up after Mourinho left things in a pretty bad place. But it does seem clear that he's not going to be the guy to take United up to that next step of challenging for and winning titles again. So looking into who is next makes sense. But I think the work he has done rebuilding the squad for the long term is something that could be looked back on fondly if they get the next appointment right. Big name outsider managers like Mourinho are just focused on the short term because they want as much glory as they can get and so the club is a vehicle for delivering that success But Solskjaer clearly cares about the bigger picture with the club. Stuff like behind the scenes he's apparently been responsible for revamping the medical and data/analytics teams.

As for who they should get rid of, a lot of the players that needed to be moved on have been in recent years. The squad is not perfect by any means but it's in a better position than it has been in years. I think I've mentioned it before on here, and I realise it sounds weird saying it after he scored twice last night, but I don't think United should have signed Ronaldo. But he's now not going anywhere for the next couple years.
 
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